New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Tears for 2 soldiers
BY JOHN LAUINGER
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Friday, February 16th, 2007

The fiancée of a Long Island soldier killed in Iraq moved a thousand mourners to tears yesterday with her touching tribute at his funeral yesterday.

"Jimmy was a hero to many, but he was always very humble," Mary McHugh said of her beloved, 26-year-old Army Ranger Sgt. James (Jimmy) Regan of Manhasset. "He always sought team success and not personal glory."

Regan was to marry McHugh, a medical student at Emory University, when his Army service ended next February. He had served two tours in Afghanistan and was on his second tour in Iraq when he was killed Feb. 9 by a roadside bomb while on combat patrol in Baqubah.

"Jimmy and I were so excited to stand up in front of God, our family and friends and declare our love for each other," McHugh said at the altar of the Church of St. Mary in Manhasset, which was standing-room only. "Only God knows why we were deprived of that opportunity, but it doesn't change the sentiments I have."

Regan, an All-American lacrosse player and All-State football scholar at Chaminade High School in Mineola, graduated from Duke University five years ago. He was deeply affected by the 9/11 terror attacks, which claimed many lives in Manhasset, and turned down a position at financial services firm UBS and deferred a scholarship to Southern Methodist University Law School to join the Army in 2004. He had earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.

After reading a love letter Regan wrote to her, McHugh said in a passionate whisper, "Jimmy, we never got to wake up next to each other every morning. Jimmy, I will wake up every morning and thank God for the opportunity to love and be loved by you."

McHugh remembered Regan as someone who always wore a smile and "simply wanted to be happy and make others around him happy."

Regan's father, also named James, said his son did just that.

"Last week in Iraq the bell tolled for Jimbo and he gave the ultimate sacrifice," the grieving father said. "You have done your duty, son, as you saw it. You are a wonderful son."

The Regan funeral was one of two in the area for Iraq war casualties yesterday. On Staten Island, a funeral Mass was said at St. Theresa's Church for Marine Cpl. Thomas Saba, 30, who died in a helicopter crash on Feb. 7.

Saba grew up on Staten Island and joined the Marines in 2002 after losing friends in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

He was supposed to be discharged in April but extended his duty for seven months to go to Iraq. He'd been in the country for less than two weeks when he and six others were killed in the crash northwest of Baghdad.

Burial was at the borough's Moravian Cemetery.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

How true, Ralph...This is why I have so much trouble with the policy of being unflinching in the face of the loss of young Americans, just so we can teach a lesson or two in callousness to our enemies.

Teresa B wrote:How true, Ralph...This is why I have so much trouble with the policy of being unflinching in the face of the loss of young Americans, just so we can teach a lesson or two in callousness to our enemies.

Somewhere this insanity needs to end.

Teresa

*****

And THAT'S just what it is. Americans have always sacrificed in time of war and we honor our dead and care for our injured. But there has to be a valid cause and none exists in Iraq. Or ever did.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

Ralph wrote: And THAT'S just what it is. Americans have always sacrificed in time of war and we honor our dead and care for our injured. But there has to be a valid cause and none exists in Iraq. Or ever did.

It's debatable as to whether there was a valid cause at the time of the invasion. But there are clearly several of them now.

a. Stop the violence from escalating many fold and turning into a regional war that pulls in Iraq's neighbors.

b. Avoiding turning over a large chunk of the world's energy supplies to a combination of Shiite and Sunni radicals.

c. If we want any of our allies or potential allies (and I'm talking more about small countries all over the world that we have ties with ......not western Europe) to offer the kind of help we frequently need from them or to just plain trust us, they need to see that we don't cut and run from a commitment and leave those we made the commitment to hanging out to dry.

Representative Johnson, like McCain, another POW in Vietnam who was tortured mercilessly by his captors for years, spoke on the House floor yesterday. He said that as bad as what their captors did to them was, the most pain they felt, at least from an emotional standpoint, was when their jailors played tapes of Americans back at home protesting against the war. They felt abandoned by their fellow Americans. And that was a pain that was difficult to bare.

"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee." - Abraham Lincoln

"Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed." - Winston Churchill

"Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement." - Ronald Reagan

Ralph wrote: And THAT'S just what it is. Americans have always sacrificed in time of war and we honor our dead and care for our injured. But there has to be a valid cause and none exists in Iraq. Or ever did.

It's debatable as to whether there was a valid cause at the time of the invasion. But there are clearly several of them now.

a. Stop the violence from escalating many fold and turning into a regional war that pulls in Iraq's neighbors.

b. Avoiding turning over a large chunk of the world's energy supplies to a combination of Shiite and Sunni radicals.

c. If we want any of our allies or potential allies (and I'm talking more about small countries all over the world that we have ties with ......not western Europe) to offer the kind of help we frequently need from them or to just plain trust us, they need to see that we don't cut and run from a commitment and leave those we made the commitment to hanging out to dry.

Representative Johnson, like McCain, another POW in Vietnam who was tortured mercilessly by his captors for years, spoke on the House floor yesterday. He said that as bad as what their captors did to them was, the most pain they felt, at least from an emotional standpoint, was when their jailors played tapes of Americans back at home protesting against the war. They felt abandoned by their fellow Americans. And that was a pain that was difficult to bare.

*****

Yes that was terribly painful for them in their total vulnerability. But it was also OUR democracy at its finest. And I speak as one who opposed the antiwar movement at the time.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

Ted wrote:So Barry, you feel this young American’s death was justified just so you can delude yourself into thinking you are somehow safer, and more secure?

More from Imperial Grunts:

<<<The ghost of Vietnam hovered over this debate. The administration didn't want the public to see recurring images of flag-draped coffins, as it had in Vietnam. Many anti-Iraq war people I knew in the Northeast had not served in Vietnam. Embarrassment and guilt over that fact helped facilitate their zero tolerance toward casualties. As for those I met in the military, particularly the noncommissioned officer class, because they and their relatives had paid a considerable price in Vietnam, they were free to think pragmatically about the casualty issue -- ruthlessly, even. Because they were free of complexes, and were closest to the dead and wounded, I trusted their opinion the most.>>>

What you don't get, as usual, Ted, is that most of us who think we need to stay in Iraq believe that if we don't, we're going to suffer many more casualties in the coming years in the wider Middle East and in the worldwide war against jihadists than we will if we see the current mission in Iraq through. Our lack of national will may save a few lives in the immediate future, but cost many more in the slightly more distant years to come, because if we leave now, we'll be back under much worse circumstances.

"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee." - Abraham Lincoln

"Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed." - Winston Churchill

"Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement." - Ronald Reagan

Teresa B wrote:How true, Ralph...This is why I have so much trouble with the policy of being unflinching in the face of the loss of young Americans, just so we can teach a lesson or two in callousness to our enemies.

If the US or any nation took the position that no policy or national interest is worth the loss of life, that nation might as well just go out of business. I can't understand people that think like you and Ted, Teresa. Your collective take on national security is so bizarre as to be utterly devoid of credibility. And yet you vote. Is this a great country or what!

Teresa B wrote:How true, Ralph...This is why I have so much trouble with the policy of being unflinching in the face of the loss of young Americans, just so we can teach a lesson or two in callousness to our enemies.

If the US or any nation took the position that no policy or national interest is worth the loss of life, that nation might as well just go out of business. I can't understand people that think like you and Ted, Teresa. Your collective take on national security is so bizarre as to be utterly devoid of credibility. And yet you vote. Is this a great country or what!

Corlyss, I don't speak (or vote!) as a "collective" but as an individual. And please don't put words in my mouth. I don't recall ever saying that no national interest is worth loss of life. If we are invaded we obviously have to respond. And no, the U.S. can't carry out its policies if we send the world the message that we refuse to suffer a casualty under any circumstances.

I'm talking specifically about the current situation in Iraq. And I was addressing the Bush administration's supposed policy of a ruthless, uncaring public attitude toward the loss of Americans.

And it is indeed a great country, because you, Corlyss, also get a vote despite the fact that you have a different take on national issues than I do.

This engagement in Iraq is without virtue.
The United States of America used 911 as a pretext to effect regime change—in effect colonizing an oil-rich mid-east nation for its own “National Interests”
The truth is all there is—It will either set you free or in this case bring you to your knees—perhaps not today or even tomorrow, but in the end History will have the last word and it won’t be an accolade
And just for the record, I was all for military force against the Taliban and all for going after Saddam when he invaded Kuwait—but this? Bah Humbug!

Teresa B wrote:How true, Ralph...This is why I have so much trouble with the policy of being unflinching in the face of the loss of young Americans, just so we can teach a lesson or two in callousness to our enemies.